rpgmakervxfandomcom-20200215-history
Resource Manager
Resource Manager The Tool : Every game made with RPG Maker VX needs resources. Whether it is music, graphics, tilesets, icons, or sound effects, an RPG will rely on its creator to spiff it up. And that's where RPGVX introduces the Resource Manager, which allows management of your materials through importing, exporting, deleting, and previewing the many resources you'll acquire through making a RPG. How Resources In VX Work Global vs Local Resources : In RPGVX, there are two different types of resources: global resources and local resources. One is general, the other is specific. Global resources, aptly, are shared RTP resources available to all projects, kept in a top-most folder, and act as the default for new projects. Local resources, or, project-specific material, are stored inside an actual project's resources folder, and not available to other projects nor apply to new projects. So, global is shared, local is specific. : Any project-specific resource will override its global equivalent. This means you can use whichever custom resources you like for one project and it won't affect other projects. However, if no local Iconset exists, for example, in your project's Graphics\System folder (which I will explain next), then RPGVX will simply use the global resource. This means you should name your files correctly, and place them in the correct format and location in order to use them as project-specific material. The Folder Structure Global Resources : Globally, there is only one directory we're concerned with, and that is the (default path) Program Files\Common Files\Enterbrain\RGSS2\RPGVX path. Inside this directory are the following folders (and their subfolders): * Audio **BGM **BGS **ME **SE * Fonts * Graphics **Animations **Battlers **Characters **Faces **Parallaxes **Pictures **System : The above are the global resources folders, also known as the shared RTP material. In each of their subfolders, you can place resources that will be available to all your projects. However, you can only have a named file once (no duplicate filenames), and this mostly effects the System folder, where you can't have more than one Iconset.png, Balloon.png, Title.png, and so on. That's severely limiting, and it's why project-specific material is so valuable. : Local material is also important because anything placed in global resources becomes part of the RTP. If you do not use project-specific resources, and you add in sweet Pictures, Battlers, and Characters to your global resources folder, you will have to include the RTP with any game you share. Otherwise, anyone who plays will get errors and be unable to play your game. So what should you do instead? Try using... Local Resources : So what about these "local resources" or project-specific stuff? How do I know I'm looking at it? Because in the directory for your game, you will have a Game.rvproj file, a Game.exe file, and a Game.ini file and then (by default) these three folders. Be careful, the .rvproj file contains no data itself at all - it merely references to it. And that's where the local resources come up. Here they are: * Audio **BGM **BGS **ME **SE * Data * Graphics **Animations **Battlers **Characters **Faces **Parallaxes **Pictures **System : These are the same, aren't they? Not quite. Notice that there is a new folder - Data (which has no subfolders). What do you think goes there? If you said "my project's map information (and events that belong to maps), my database, my scripts, and encounter areas," you may now give yourself a cookie. This folder doesn't exist at a global level, does it? Actually, it does exist, but you will probably not need to mess with it (it acts as a template for new projects). : The other two folders (Audio and Graphics) are structured to work just like the global resources folders. This means they have the same subfolders (i.e.,BGM, BGS, ME, SE for Audio), but they are, by default, empty. They are waiting for you to fill them~! : These are the project-specific folders I've been discussing. Any resource that exists locally that has a global equivalent will be used first, thus establishing a sort of local priority. Don't believe me? Drop an Iconset.png into your project's Graphics/System folder, open it up in MSPaint, scribble all over it, save, and then open that project. You'll see that your icons are now nicely scribbled all over. : One further note about local resources: any downloaded games you have will often not have the same folders and subfolders as your own working projects, because RPGVX will only compress the folders and subfolders that contain actual files. In other words, empty folders are not compressed. Makes sense, and explains the difference, if you have noted it. How to Use Managing : The Resource Manager is found under Tools on the menu, or by means of its shortcut key, F10. You can import, export, delete, and preview any of your resources. The resources will be categorized in the left pane according to the Graphics and Audio folders' subfolders (shown above). The Resource Manager will exclude the global-level "Fonts" and the local-level "Data" folders. This will give you the following categories: * Graphics/Animations * Graphics/Battlers * Graphics/Characters * Graphics/Faces * Graphics/Parallaxes * Graphics/Pictures * Graphics/System * Audio/BGM * Audio/BGS * Audio/ME * Audio/SE : On the right pane, in each category, will be the resources that already exist. All resources have a small colored circle at their front; this identifies if it is a shared or project-specific material. In other words, the light blue represents shared RTP global resources, and the red represents project-specific, local resources. Importing : To import a resource, navigate to the desired category and click "Import...". This will then open a dialog box to search through your folders and find a resource. You can hold down CTRL and left-click files to import multiple resources. Depending on the format, category, and transparency settings inherent in the image, you may or may not be prompted to set the transparency/translucency settings. : Generally, you will only receive a prompt if the image is PNG. If the image is JPG, you won't get an option since the JPG (JPEG) format does not support transparency. However, if transparency is already set in the image, you may not be prompted. Conversely, if you are importing a PNG with a solid orange background, you'll probably be asked to set transparency/translucency. Exporting : Select the resource in the right-pane and then select a location where you will export it. You can select multiple files by holding CTRL and left-clicking the desired materials. This is helpful when examining another project and sending resources to your own project. Previewing : You can look at what your resources, as they will be shown in-game, using the Preview button. Just go to the category, click on an resource in the right-pane and then click Preview. This is especially helpful to examine transparency settings, as well as looking at your windowskin, message background, and iconset. Take care to note the difference between red and blue when in the Graphics/System category. The red, the project-specific local resource, will override the blue, that is, the glboally shared RTP. Advanced : : You do not have to ever touch the Resource Manager. If you understand how the resources work in RPGVX, you can simply use something like Windows Explorer to navigate around the folders and manage your resources. It works just the same. To import material, you can copy it from another location and paste it into the correct folder that represents the category (it's not terribly difficult to figure out). To erase it, well, it would be just like any other file in your OS. And preview can be done with any various image viewing programs. : One advantage and disadvantage of this is bypassing transparency/translucency settings. Sometimes you will find an image that imports oddly, even after setting the transparency correctly - importing these types of images will often remove or damage the actual subject (say, a Battler) enough to make it look poor. By doing something as simple as dragging and dropping the battler to your project's Graphics/Battler folder, you can have it looking nice. : As stated though, you won't be able to set the transparency if you don't use the Resource Manager. This means you'll need to take pains to correct the transparency settings, i.e., for a solid-color background character set, before putting it into your game. So, most often, you will end up using the Resource Manager to cover this problem. Material Rules There are plenty of rules that RMVX follows when reading character sets, tilesets, windowskins, face sets, battlers, audio, animations, and various System files (balloons, messageback, icons, battlefloor, shadow, gameover). You can find this information in your Help file or the official website. Category:Intermediate Category:Resources